At the same time, in the rear of the battlefield, "riding the wind", "breaking the waves", "sailing", "flying eagles", and "sea lions" simultaneously approached the capital ships such as "Changsheng", and although the two ironclad ships occupied the direct channel, they could not prevent the speed of the Qing cruisers, even if they went around in a big circle, and the Japanese honest ironclads could not catch up

The two truncated fleets finally overlapped, and the Japanese fleet had already suffered heavy casualties at this time, not only had four gunboats sunk and one seriously damaged, but also the main cruisers "Akitsuzu" and "Takachiho" were also sunk, and the chips in their hands were getting fewer and fewer

The terrible thing is that the wind is blowing at this time, the white waves are raging on the sea surface of the Sea of Japan, and a summer storm is being brewed, and the war clerk on the "Changsheng" ship recorded this: The wind and waves were so rapid that they hit from the side, so that all the warships were bumped up and down, the ships were slow, and the swells almost rushed to the bridge, and the lookout and ranging were impossible, and even the Daqing No. 1 ship in front could not get a full view, only to disappear in the waves

However, this storm became a lifesaver for the Japanese fleet, and the fleet diverted to the northeast and evacuated to Hokkaido

"If the weather changes suddenly, all fleets will immediately gather and return to sail," Yan Fu ordered

At the time of this departure, there was a feint fleet of 17 warships, but now when it returned to the sea, only "Daqing No. 1", "Daqing No. 2", "Changsheng", "Undefeated", "Riding the Wind", "Breaking the Waves", "Flying Eagle", "Sea Lion", "Sailing", "Jingyuan", "Laiyuan", "Guangjia", "Guangyi", and 13 warships

In Yokohama, "Zhenyuan", "Dingyuan", "Weiyuan", and "Jiyuan" were on guard outside the Yokohama Battery, and after Deng Shichang eliminated the three gunboats guarding the battery and destroyed the entire battery, Feng Xianghua had already led two divisions to land

Two battle reports were sent to the capital at the same time

For such a result, Guan Xuqing seems to be quite satisfied, although the Japanese fleet has not been completely annihilated, but it has dealt a heavy blow to Japan's strength, and now the Japanese fleet in addition to the four main battleships, there is only one "wave" cruiser, which can also be called the real opponent of the Qing Navy, and the rest of the old gunboats and ironclad ships are not worth mentioning at all

It is hard to imagine that if the Japanese really developed according to the previous development level for another three to four years, they might really become the number one rival of the Qing Dynasty in Asia

It is a pity that neither the British nor the Japanese could hold their breath and broke out this battle of national fortune in advance, and for the Qing Dynasty, it was fortunate that Japan obtained four battleships and four cruisers provided by the British, which were considered first-class in Asia, but unfortunately lacked naval talent, and did not give full play to the real strength of these eight warships under the poor command

After the previous two wars, a large number of command talents emerged, and the soldiers accumulated actual combat experience, although the number and quality of advanced warships were inferior, and the two naval battles were tied with Japan

However, in terms of the army, the whole situation was reversed, and the Qing Army was not much better than the British Royal Army, not to mention that they were equipped with the most advanced mortars and grenades and ammunition at that time, which the Japanese did not have

The absolute superiority is logistics and military strength, and the economic development of the Qing Dynasty in recent years has been quite rapid, and the GDP of one year is equivalent to that of Japan for five full years

In terms of the number of the army, the Qing Dynasty had 1 million regular troops and 1 million reserve troops serving in the army, that is, no matter how many people were defeated at the front line, the rear could be replenished at any time, while the Japanese army at that time had only 380,000 regular troops and 200,000 reserve soldiers, and the gap was obvious

The maritime superiority on which the Japanese relied for their survival was now gone, and the 50,000 Qing troops who landed in Yokohama wanted to plunge a knife directly into the heart of Japan, causing the Japanese to be pessimistic about the prospects of war for the first time

"Your Majesty, now that Yokohama has been lost and the Qing army has come to the city, I think Your Majesty should go to Hokkaido first, where our warships will escort me, and Japan will be able to make a comeback one day," Ito Hirobumi said embarrassedly

"No, I was born as the emperor of Japan, and I vow not to take a step back from Japan's share of honor and disgrace," Emperor Meiji said angrily

"However, our defense in Yokohama has been broken through, and in addition to the Qing army that landed, the Qing army in Nagoya has also made a detour to Kanazawa that the prospect of war is not optimistic, and I wonder if we should let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talk to Qingguo and end this war as soon as possible," Ito Hirobumi said with his head bowed

With a "snap", the tea bowl in the hand of Emperor Meiji was smashed by him on the imperial case, and the fragments of the tea bowl were embedded in the flesh, and a piece of blood was dripping and frightened the attendants around him into a panic, and a samurai took three steps and took one step to find a doctor

"Ito-kun, don't you think what you say will make you die ten times?" Emperor Meiji pointed his bloody hand at Hirobumi Ito

"No, Your Majesty's subordinates are for the sake of the future of our Great Japanese Empire, and now the army of the Qing Dynasty has a large number of generals, although Japan has developed rapidly in recent years, but it is not as powerful as the Qing State, and the subordinates of the Qing Dynasty have returned to the secret talks in the Qing State, their Wusong Shipyard will have two cruisers of the same class as the Rise next month, Mawei Shipyard will have ten assault gunboats launched this month, and Lushun Shipyard has twenty shore defense gunboats and fifteen French fish and pedo ships going to sea, In the current naval battle, even if the casualty ratio between the Qing army and our great Japan reaches 3:1, the Qing army is still cost-effective, not to mention that the casualty ratio is only 1:1 today, the army has no advantage, and if it continues to fight, it may be completely destroyed in Japan."

"You still have the face to talk about your secret conversations?? It's all the wrong information brought by your secret talks, so we will be fooled by the Qing Kingdom again and again that you were born in a samurai family, where is your bushido spirit? Emperor Meiji roared at Ito Hirobumi like a lion out of control

"Your Majesty......"

Emperor Meiji fell heavily on his seat, and watched the blood drop by drop from his hand, leaving tears and finally couldn't help but flow down

"Okay, Ito-kun, you go and talk to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to talk to Qing Guo, whether there is a possibility of an armistice, and in addition, the whole country will mobilize to resist the Qing army and prepare together, and if necessary, you must fight a decisive battle with the Qing army to the end" Emperor Meiji's firm eyes revealed a desire for victory

"Hayi"

Inside the Forbidden City, there is a relaxed atmosphere

Guan Xuqing was playing chess with Concubine Lan in the back garden

"Be the head cannon" Concubine Lan used the number of paths she had just learned from Guan Xuqing

"Malay Jump" Guan Xuqing after leaving the cumbersome government and headache war report, the whole person relaxed, facing the beautiful royal garden and eye-catching beauties, the mood is good, until now I realized that it is good to travel to the Qing Dynasty to be the emperor

"Ah, how should the concubine go? The emperor's concubine "Concubine Lan was coquettish in front of Guan Xuqing

Guan Xuqing just wanted to speak, and Li Hongzhang hurriedly ran over

"Your Majesty, great joy" Before the person arrived, the voice had already come

Guan Xuqing turned to look at Li Hongzhang, and asked with some annoyance: "Hongzhang, I think you are dizzy, although this is a harem, can you forget the principle of monarchs and ministers?" "Guan Xuqing has fully integrated into the space

"Ah, the minister's capital crime is to ask the emperor to be saintly, and the blue lady is auspicious" Li Hongzhang hurriedly knelt on the ground

"Flat" Guan Xuqing said to Concubine Lan, "You go back first, I will talk to you another day"

"The concubine retreats," Concubine Lan slowly left surrounded by all the palace maids

After Guan Xuqing saw Concubine Lan leave, he turned to Li Hongzhang and said, "What is the joy of being so hot?" ”

"Your Majesty, look" Li Hongzhang took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his sleeve and continued: "The Japanese envoy has come to pray for peace."

Guan Xuqing took the peace talk book with a smile, and said lightly: "Look at your little talent, what kind of joy is it expected for little Japan to pray for peace?" ”

"Yes, what the emperor taught me is" Li Hongzhang lowered his head in shame

"The Japanese want to use the peace talks to delay time, and now that Yokohama is broken, Lu Yiwei's battle report said that he has taken two divisions back to Kanazawa to break Kanazawa is only a matter of time, Feng Xianghua's war report said that Tokyo can be broken within five days, is it appropriate to negotiate peace at this time?" Guan Xuqing put down the peace talk book and said to Li Hongzhang

"Uh......" Li Hongzhang frowned slightly, and continued: "Actually, the minister thinks that Japan is a small country, just teach him a lesson, and now the peace talks book is clear, admit that the dynasty and Xian belong to my Qing Dynasty, and I will definitely live in peace with my Qing Dynasty in the future."

"Fart, since ancient times, raising a dog can watch the door, raising a tiger can be a small country, although Japan is a small country, but a dog is a tiger, can you tell the difference?" Guan Xuqing stood up and continued: "The king of Chao Xian has already presented the land to the table, and Chao Xian is now a province of my Great Qing Dynasty, and everyone knows it at home, what do you want him to recognize in Japan?" He admits it or not, it's all my Daqing."

"Yes, yes, yes," Li Hongzhang admitted

Guan Xuqing changed his words and continued: "However, if people want to admit their mistakes, our Celestial Empire power also has to be a little sincere, can't we just go to the end?" He turned to Li Hongzhang and said: "In this way, you can talk to the Japanese envoys for peace talks, but you need them to come to the Qing Dynasty to negotiate, and the location is set in Tianjin or you go, what ......are the conditions?"

Guan Xuqing suddenly thought of the indemnity of 250 million taels of silver demanded by Japan during the Sino-Japanese War in history, which was the indemnity that completely destroyed China

"As for the indemnity of 250 million taels of silver, in addition, any future transactions between Japan and other countries will be limited to less than 100,000 for the conventional army and no more than 50,000 tons for the navy with the consent of our Qing Dynasty."

Li Hongzhang was also taken aback by Guan Xuqing's condition, and thought that the little emperor was joking

"Your Majesty, do you mean 250 million taels of silver? Or 250 million silver dollars? After the currency reform, Guan Xuqing and his ministers were still accustomed to using the old name in terms of amount

"Oh, it's 250 million taels of silver, which is equivalent to 2.5 billion silver dollars in domestic currency today," Guan Xuqing emphasized again

"This ...... I'm afraid Japan won't be able to take it out, and they still owe Britain a lot of loans." As foreign minister, Li Hongzhang still has a certain understanding of the economic situation of various countries

"I can't control this, I only take what belongs to me, you just open it according to this condition, can't you take it out? Then mortgage the tariffs to the Qing Dynasty, and repay them in installments every year, and he also has 50 million taels of silver a year in Japan, and won't it be paid off in 5 years? In this way, you go and tell Little Japan, I Kaien allows them to repay it in 5 years, without interest, alas, don't rush Xie Zhen first, this is also conditional, then Nagasaki Island will press me to Daqing first, plus the tariffs in various places will be pressed to Daqing together, and then return these to Japan" Guan Xuqing looked like a good person, so that Li Hongzhang almost didn't laugh when he saw it

"Oh, I'm going to inform them" Li Hongzhang left in a hurry